Bringing Christ to the World

Issue 7 Newsletter of the Dominican Laity Nov-Dec 2009

Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus

Children: Witnesses of Christ Benedict XVI “Sweet Christ on earth,” St.

"In the face of the little Jesus," said Benedict, "we contemplate the face of God, which is not re- vealed through force or power, but in weakness and the fragile constitution of a child. This 'Divine Child' ... demonstrates the faithfulness and ten- derness of the boundless love with which God surrounds each of us. For this reason we rejoice at Christmas, reliving the same experience as the shepherds of Bethlehem."

"The wonder we feel before the enchantment of Christmas" is, he said, in some way reflected in the birth of all children, "and it invites us to recog- nize the Infant Jesus in all babies, who are the joy of the Church and the hope of the world."

The called on children "to be friends and witnesses of Jesus, Who came among us in Bethlehem. Is it not a beautiful thing to make Him better known among your friends, in cities, in par- ishes and in your families? The Church needs you in order to be close to all the children and young people ... Bear witness to the fact that Je- sus takes away nothing of your joy, but makes you more human, more true, more beautiful."

Speaking Wednesday at the weekly General Au- dience the Pope spoke of contemplating Christ in the manger. "On Christmas Eve, we will stand once again before the manger, and contemplate in wonder the 'Word made Flesh,'" he said.

"It appears that many people consider God as foreign to their interests," the Pope said. "They have no apparent need of Him, and live as if He “And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, did not exist or, worse still, as if He were an how can we tell other people not to kill one another?" --, National Prayer Breakfast, Feb 3, 1994 Continued on page 2)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 1 Nov-Dec 2009 God Transforms the World (Continued from page 1)

'obstacle' to be removed in order to achieve self- "Of course, false prophets continue to propose 'low cost' fulfillment. Even among believers ... are those who let salvation, which always ends up delivering resounding themselves be attracted by alluring mirages and dis- disillusionment. Indeed, the history of the last 50 years tracted by misleading doctrines that propose illusory provides an example of this search for a 'low cost' Savior shortcuts to happiness." and highlights all the consequent disillusionment."

"And yet," he added, "with all their contradictions, their For this reason, the Pope concluded, Christians must, anguish and their dramas - or perhaps precisely because "with the testimony of their lives, propagate the truth of of them - men and women today seek a road of renewal, Christmas, which Christ brings to all men and women of of salvation, they seek a Savior and await, sometimes good will. Born into poverty in the manger, Jesus came to offer everyone the joy and peace which alone can satisfy without knowing it, ... the coming of Christ, man's only the needs of the human soul." true Redeemer." Vatican Information Service, Dec 21, 2006

From the Editor Praised Be Jesus!

On October 26, 1995, I received by email St. Augustine’s Greetings and blessings to you, brothers and sisters in St. “Letter to Proba” from the Office of Readings (p. 22). It Dominic! was the straw that broke this former protestant’s resis- tance, and that day I sought out a Catholic priest and be- The truth being told, the Incarnation is Grace with a hu- gan the process of entering the Church. It is a day seared man face. In Mary, “Hail favored one, full of Grace, The in my memory, as are other days during that journey from Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28-29); we see a woman filled darkness and despair to the light of faith. with Grace; and in Jesus “My Grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians, 12:8-10); we see God Himself becoming Raised in the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), I had flesh. lived my life as a political liberal and functional atheist. It was a yearning for Truth which drew me to the faith; oddly As we approach the end of another year we also ap- enough it was the columns of Stephen J. Gould in Natural proach the beginning of Advent. Advent is a favorite time History Magazine which helped me discover that truth of mine because it’s full of joy and the anticipation of God lying beneath the thin veneer of cultural “knowledge” living with us. Think about that for a moment, God, who is which was so often in such stark contrast to the received beyond all understanding; the One who was hidden and worldly wisdom. Providentially, I read my way from Gould and the “Flat Earth” to the Ven. to St. Augustine to mysterious to everyone; who was contemplated by gen- the doors of the , with many others along erations and generations, God — The God — is now face the way. to face with us. There’s no more wondering. He’s right here walking around with us, and His name is Jesus. My poor dear wife, an ardent feminist, had little sympathy for or interest in my journey which was leading to unex- The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Grace is a pected places. We maintained a working truce during this participation in the life of God”, (Paragraph 1997). It also time, punctuated by her challenges against the “evils of states, “The Grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God Catholicism” - the inquisition, Galileo, mistreatment of makes to us of his own life...” (Paragraph 1999). Jesus women, worship of Mary – each was met in turn by a re- is indeed our greatest gift. But what do we do when we sponse of “well, yes, lets look into that” and further read- are presented with this gift? Do we receive it with joy and ing and research (in the pattern set by Gould). So many put it on right away, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, wonderful books, most of which I’ve since loaned and (Romans 13:14); or do we hold it up to ourselves and lost; Walsh’s “Characters of the Inquisition” and his biog- think, well, it’s not my style. And then proceed to return it raphy of Teresa of Avila provided a counter to the protes- for something that suits our lifestyle better; or are we re- tant polemical state education we’d received, as well as gifters and quickly wrap it up again and give it to someone engendering a deep and abiding love for St. Teresa of else, when we never made use of it ourselves. Avila!

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Truth Be Told 7 Page 2 Nov-Dec 2009 From the Editor (Continued from page 2)

I entered the Church at the Easter Vigil in 1996. Shortly  Jesus is not the only son of God. thereafter I gave my wife a copy of “True and False Toler-  But a whole new way that is also not Catholic Reli- ance” by Phillip Beneton (p. 13); I thought it was a worthy gious Life. explanation of some of the problems with our culture. Unexpected by me, she not only read it, but re-read and  They are certainly religious women, but they are no re-read it almost obsessively for a period of about two longer women religious as it is defined by the Roman months. Thus began a different journey for her that Catholic Church. ended up with her entering the Church on the Feast of the in 1996. Dominus flevit

For both of us, the encounter of grace happened differ- Mark Gross ently. For me it was while fishing and reading St. Editor Augustine’s Confessions; I had the sense that I was look- ing for what he was looking for, and I found that narrow door when I read Augustine’s explanation of it; the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; it was enough to help me see that I’d held back and had never really believed but now was ready to give all in faith; and in a moment my world changed. Praise be Jesus (Continued from page 2) For my dear wife, the change occurred in the confes- sional; even though she was a non-Catholic, I had sug- The most important thing in our life is to live in God’s gested she go there and ask for guidance. Although she Grace. When St. was asked if she knew that could not receive the grace of the directly, she she was in God’s Grace, she replied: went in one person and came out another. “If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may We are born exiles in Babylon, a land that is not ours; but it please God to keep me there.” we don’t know it until Christ shows us, as psalm 137 so well articulates. Like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1ff), The most efficacious way to live in God’s Grace and re- we withheld “our goods” from the Lord, even as we main there is through the . Although the gift of worked on our own merits towards what we thought Grace is given freely by God, we have the free will to ei- “good,” justly earning St. Paul’s admonition that we were ther embrace it or refuse it, and embrace the present cul- but noisy cymbals, gaining nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3). ture.

In discovering the Love we lacked (for God is love), we As Dominicans, we’re committed to preaching the Truth. found the love we sought (in each other) through Jesus Advent is the perfect time to bring Jesus, through Mary, to Christ. We who had been lost, found the pearl of great souls who have not yet received this gift. And also to price. those souls who are re-gifters or have returned it by leav- ing the Church, abortion, homosexual relationships, adul- To this I will contrast some erroneous ideas presented by tery, sex outside of marriage, euthanasia, new age ideol- a religious sister a couple years ago: ogy, and the like. The greatest gift that we in turn can give to God is to fully cooperate with the Graces He gives  The theological justification in the 1800s was the sal- us so we can live fully human lives and participate in the vation of heathen souls—a theology that we no longer life of God through the salvation of souls. hold. I pray God’s Grace, Light and Blessings on you and wish  The dynamic option for Religious Life, which I am call- you a Holy Christmas. ing, Sojourning, is much more difficult to discuss, since it involves moving beyond the Church, even Yours in Christ and St. Dominic, beyond Jesus. A sojourning congregation is no longer Denise Harvey ecclesiastical. It has grown beyond the bounds of in- Vice President stitutional religion. Its search for the Holy may have begun rooted in Jesus as the Christ, but deep reflec- P.S. You can give Jesus another gift by kindly reminding tion, study and prayer have opened it up to the spirit store employees that December 25th is not Happy Holiday of the Holy in all of creation. Religious titles, institu- Day, it’s CHRISTmas day, which is the only reason you tional limitations, ecclesiastical authorities no longer are purchasing an item from their store. And, of course, fit this congregation, which in most respects is Post- wish them a very Merry Christmas. Christian.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 3 Nov-Dec 2009 From the DLIPC Representative

Why do we preach? Mother, conceived without sin and Assumed into Heaven; the keys to the kingdom were bestowed onto Peter and We are familiar with the story of the genesis of the Order. his heirs; the church He founded is the One True Holy Indeed, a recent issue of Truth be Told recounted the cir- Universal Catholic Church; and the Pope is the vicar of cumstances of our founding. In fact, the very title of the Jesus Christ Himself. Further, the power to “bind and news letter was changed to reflect that history, that real- loose” was bestowed on Peter, the other Apostles, and ity: Truth be Told: Bringing Christ to the World. Our foun- their successors. That means that those definitive teach- der was consumed with the salvation of souls. He knew ings of the church, proclaimed by His Holiness, and the the reality of sin. He knew that eternal separation from bishops in concert with him are binding on us all. Dis- God our Father was a real consequence of sin. He loved agreeing with Church doctrine seems popular in some those sinners so much he devoted himself to their salva- “Catholic” circles, as a sign of free will, but that doesn’t tion. make it right. God loves us so much He will grant us our deepest desire – even if it be eternal separation (Hell) It is more important than ever to understand why we because we seek approval of others rather than Him. preach. We preach to save souls. It is that simple. We believe the teachings of Holy Mother Church and the real- So, let us remember the fundamentals. We proclaim the ity of sin. While venial sin pushes us from God; mortal sin Good News – which includes all the teaching of the mag- removes us from His presence. Should we die in a state isterium –because we do love our neighbor. We wish his of mortal sin, that removal is eternal. This isn’t a popular eternal salvation. We preach to save souls. concept these days, but it is true. It is that truth that should be our constant motivation to preach the Good Preaching the “Little Way”. It has been stated that “the News – to save souls from that eternal separation. Little Flower” is the most popular of all (modern) . She taught that we can demonstrate our love for Him who We are in a time that tells us the only “sin” (besides, per- gave all in little ways – everyday. There are Little Ways of haps, smoking) is to “judge” someone’s actions. Notice, preaching. For example, saying “God Bless You.” For this isn’t “judging” in the traditional sense, i.e., judging the years I have tried to close all visits, conversations, phone eternal future of an individual – vs. judging the actions calls, encounters with store clerks, etc., with the simple associated with the same circumstance. So, to use an statement of “God Bless You.” Usually no response is example, we can say with complete confidence that steal- offered. But many times there is a pause and then thanks ing is always wrong; however we know there are circum- in sincere appreciation that someone took the time and stances of occasion and/or pertaining to the individual opportunity to wish His Bless- that might “mitigate” the severity of the “wrong.” ings upon a stranger. We don’t know where a “little preaching We live in an age where it is unacceptable to even say an way” such as this will lead; we action is wrong. That would make us guilty of the gravest hope it will open the door to social wrongs: intolerance. But tolerance has become a more specific and detailed code word for condoning any kind of behavior in which an preaching and teaching that individual chooses to engage, including fornication, adul- leads to life in concert with Him tery, artificial contraception, in-vitro fertilization, homo- – and, we pray, to eternal sal- sexuality, etc. Tolerance has become the demand to ac- vation. cept all manner of conduct, without comment, and there- fore to condone. This attitude has resulted in apathy re- God Bless You. garding the eternal future of those around us. Such apa- Gary Sims, thy is not Love, but rather, indifference – the true antithe- Dominican Laity Inter- sis of Love. Love instructs. Love defines. Love expects. Provincial Council delegate Love is not indifferent.

We preach to save souls because we do love. A love that The person who experiences scandal at public actions of seeks the good for the other – a desire for the best inter- Catholics, which are gravely contrary to the moral law, est of the one loved; a desire for the eternal salvation for not only does not destroy unity but invites the Church to the other. repair what is clearly a serious breach in Her life.

That requires instruction. Too often we assume others Were he not to experience scandal at the public support know the Truth. Know Jesus Christ is our Lord and Sav- of attacks on human life and the family, his conscience ior, He is true God and true Man, He died for us and He would be uninformed or dulled about the most sacred rose from the dead for us; the Blessed Mary is His realities. Archbishop Raymond Burke, LifeSite News.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 4 Nov-Dec 2009 The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. Pope Benedict XVI

Dear brothers and sisters, us. And finally the neighbor. The Church is never a closed group, which lives for itself like so many of the groups We have now begun our synodal encounter, calling on existing in the world, rather it distinguishes itself for its the Holy Spirit, knowing full well that at this time we can- universality of charity, of responsibility for the neighbor. not achieve what must be done for the Church and for the world: only with the strength of the Holy Spirit can we find We will consider these three gifts one by one. Confessio: that which is good and accomplish it. And every day we in the language of the Bible and the ancient Church this will begin by calling on the Holy Spirit with the Prayer of word had two essential meanings, which might seem op- the Hour of Terce "Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus". posed but in effect constitute one reality. Confessio, first of all, is the confession of sins: recognizing our fault and Therefore I would like to meditate briefly now, together recognizing that before God we are lacking, we are at with you all, on this hymn, which opens the work each fault, we are not in the right relationship with Him. This is day, now during the Synod, but also in our daily life. the first point: to know ourselves in the light of God. Only in this light can we know ourselves, can we also under- "Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus". We pray that the Pentecost stand that there is evil in us and thus see how much must is not only a past event, the beginnings of the Church, but be renewed, transformed. Only in the light of God can we that it is today, rather, now: "Nunc sancte nobis Spiritus". know each other and truly see all of reality. We pray that the Lord accomplish now the effusion of His Spirit and recreate His Church and the world. We recall I feel that we must keep in mind all this in our analysis of that the apostles after the Ascension did not begin -- as reconciliation, justice, peace. Empirical analyses are im- would have been usual -- to organize, to create the portant, it is important to know exactly the reality of this Church of the future. They waited for God’s action, they world. However these horizontal analyses, made so ex- waited for the Holy Spirit. They understood that the actly and competently, are insufficient. They do not indi- Church cannot be made, that it is not the product of our cate the real problems because they are not placed in the organization: the Church must be born of the Holy Spirit. light of God. If we cannot see that at the roots lies the Just as the Lord was conceived and born of the Holy Mystery of God, the worldly things go badly because the Spirit, thus the Church must also be conceived and born relationship with God is not orderly. And if the first rela- of the Holy Spirit. Only through this creative act of God tionship, the fundamental one, is not correct, all the other can we enter the activity of God, in divine action and col- relationships as good as they can be, fundamentally do laborate with Him. In this sense, even all of our work at not work. Therefore all our analyses of the world are in- the Synod is a collaboration with the Holy Spirit, with the sufficient if we do not delve to this point, if we do not con- force of God that precedes us. And we must always con- sider the world in the light of God, if we do not discover tinue to implore the fulfillment of this divine initiative, in that at the root of injustice, of corruption, there is an un- which we can become collaborators of God and contrib- righteous heart, there is closure towards God and, there- ute to the rebirth and growth of His Church. fore, a falsification of the essential relationship which is the foundation of all others. The second verse of this hymn -- "Os, lingua, mens, sen- sus, vigor, / Confessionem personent; / Flammescat igne Confessio: to understand the realities of the world in the caritas, / accendat ardor proximos" -- is the heart of this light of God, the primacy of God and finally the whole hu- prayer. We beg God for three gifts, the gifts essential to man being and the human realities, which tend to our re- Pentecost, to the Holy Spirit: confessio, caritas, proximos. lations with God. And if this is not right, it will not reach Confessio: there is a tongue of fire that is "reasonable", it the point wanted by God, it does not enter His truth, even gives the correct word and makes one think about over- all the rest cannot be corrected because all the evils coming Babylon on the day of Pentecost. The confusion which re-emerge destroy the social network, the peace in born from egoism and man’s pride, the effect being the the world. inability to understand each other, must be overcome by the force of the Spirit, which unites without leveling, which Confessio: to see the reality in the light of God, to under- gives unity in plurality: each can understand the other, stand that ultimately our realities depend on our relation- even in the different languages. Confessio: the word, the ship with our Creator and Redeemer, and thus lead to tongue of fire that the Lord gives us, the common word truth, the truth that saves. Augustine, referring to which unites us all, the City of God, the Holy Church, in Chapter 3 of the Gospel according to Saint John, defines which all the wealth of our different cultures is present. the act of Christian confession with "to make truth, to go Flammescat igne caritas. This confession is not a theory towards the light". Only in seeing our faults in the light of but life, love. The heart of the Holy Church is love, God is God, the insufficiencies in our relationship with Him, can love and communicates Himself by communicating love to we walk in the light of truth. And only truth will save. We (Continued on next page)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 5 Nov-Dec 2009 The Church in Africa (Continued from previous page) finally work in truth: to really confess in this depth of should often meditate on the gratuity of God: there is no God’s light is to make truth. need for great material or even intellectual gifts to be close to God. God gives Himself freely in His love, He is This is the first meaning of the word confessio, confession in me in my heart and on my lips. This is the courage, the of sins, recognizing the guilt that comes from our missing joy of our life. It is also the courage present in this Synod, relationship with God. However a second meaning of con- because God is not far: He is with us with the word of fession is that of thanking God, glorifying God, witnessing faith. I think that even this duality is important: the word in God. We can recognize the truth of our being because the heart and on the lips. This depth of personal faith, there is a divine answer. God did not leave us alone with which truly intimately ties me with God, must then be con- our sins; even when our relationship with His Majesty is fessed: faith and confession, interiority in communion with locked, He does not turn away but comes to us and takes God and the witness of faith that is expressed on my lips us by the hand. Therefore confessio is the witness of and thus becomes sensitive and present in the world. God's goodness, it is evangelization. We could say that These two important things always walk hand in hand. the second dimension of the word confessio is identical to evangelization. We can see this on the day of Pentecost, Then the hymn we are talking about even indicates the when , in his speech, on one hand accuses places where confession can be found: "oas, lingua, persons' fault -- you have killed the saint and the just --, mens, sensus, vigor". All our abilities of thinking, speak- but, at the same time, says: this Saint has risen and loves ing, hearing, acting, must echo -- the Latin uses the word you, embraces you, calls upon you to be His in contrition "personare" -- the word of God. Our being, in all its di- and baptism, as well as in communion with His Body. In mensions, should be filled with this word, which becomes the light of God, to confess necessarily becomes pro- thus truly sensitive to the world, which, through our exis- claiming God, to evangelize and thus renew the world. tence, echoes in the world: the word of the Holy Spirit.

The word confessio however reminds us of another ele- Then briefly two other gifts. Charity: it is important that ment. In Chapter 10 of the Letter to the Romans, Saint Christianity is not the sum of ideas, a philosophy, a theol- Paul interprets the confession in Chapter 30 of Deuteron- ogy, but a way of life, Christianity is charity, it is love. Only omy. In this last text, it would seem that the Jews, enter- thus can we become Christians: if faith turns into charity, ing the definitive form of the covenant, in the Holy Land, if it is charity. We could also say that logos and caritas go are afraid and cannot truly answer God as they should. together. Our God is, on one hand, logos, eternal reason. The Lord tells them: do not be afraid, God is not far. But this reason is also love, it is not cold mathematics that creates the universe, it is not a creator; this eternal rea- To reach God it is not necessary to travel through an un- son is fire, it is charity. This unity of reason and charity, of known ocean, there is no need for space travel in the faith and charity should be accomplished within us. And heavens, so complicated and impossible. God is not far, thus transformed in charity become, as the Greek Fathers He is not on the other side of the ocean, in these im- said, divinized. I would say that in the world's develop- mense spaces of the universe. God is close. He is in your ment this is an uphill road, from the first realities created heart and on your lips, with the word of the Torah, which to the human being. But this stairway is not yet done. Man goes into your heart and is proclaimed from your lips. should be divinized and thus realized.

God is in you and with you, He is close. The unity of the creature and the Creator: this is true de- velopment, to reach this openness with the grace of God. Saint Paul substitutes, in his interpretation, the word To- Our essence becomes transformed in charity. If we speak rah with the words confession and faith. He says: truly about this development we always think of this as the ulti- God is close, there is no need for complicated shipments mate goal, where God wishes to arrive with us. to reach Him, nor for spiritual or material ventures. God is close with faith, He is in your heart, and with confession Finally, the neighbor. Charity is not an individual thing, but He is on your lips. He is in you and with you. Truly, Jesus a universal and concrete thing. Today in the , we Christ with His presence gives us the word of life. Thus proclaimed the page of the Gospel on the Good Samari- He enters, in faith, into our heart. He lives in our heart and tan, where we can see the dual reality of Christian charity, in confession we bring the reality of the Lord to the world, which is universal and concrete. This Good Samaritan in ourtime. I think this is a very important element: God is meets a Jew, who therefore is beyond the boundaries of close. Things of science, of technology use up great in- his tribe and his religion. But charity is universal and vestments: spiritual and material ventures are costly and therefore this stranger is his neighbor in all senses. Uni- difficult. But God gives Himself freely. versality opens the limitations that close the world and create differences and conflicts. At the same time, the fact The greatest things of life -- God, love, truth -- are free. that something must be done for universality is not a phi- God gives Himself in our hearts. I could say that we losophy but a concrete act. (Continued on next page)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 6 Nov-Dec 2009 The Church in Africa (Continued from previous page)

We must tend towards this unification between universal- We pray that we may learn, that learning become believ- ity and concreteness, we must truly open these bounda- ing and believing become loving, action. We pray the Lord ries between tribes, ethnic groups, religions to the univer- that He may give us the gift of the Holy Spirit, inciting a sality of the love of God. And this is not in theory, but in new Pentecost, help us to be His servants at this time in our places of life, with all the necessary concreteness. We the world. pray the Lord to give us all this, in the force of the Holy Spirit. At the end, the hymn is a glorification of the Trine , OCT. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Vatican trans- and One God and a prayer of knowledge and believing. lation of the meditation Benedict XVI gave Monday at the Thus the end returns to the beginning. opening of the First General Congregation on Monday of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops

Americans are Confused About Life By Bishop Robert Vasa

I had the good fortune while listening to a Christian televi- sion station to hear a congressman from Georgia who was talking about the Sanctity of Human Life Act. This is a bill introduced in November, 2007, that defines human life as beginning at fertilization and would protect all hu- man life even that life created by human cloning or in-vitro fertilization. This is not at all new news, but hearing the congressman speak gave me a renewed sense of just how complacent and confused we are in the United States about the worth and dignity of human life.

The language of the bill is both instructive and challeng- ing: “The right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is Turkson to Replace Martino at vested in each human being, and is the paramount and Justice and Peace most fundamental right of a person. No one in these United States could take exception to this. The congress- Cardinal Peter Turkson (photo), 61, the Archbishop of man talked about the relativistic and rather arbitrary Cape Coast, Ghana, the eloquent "relator" or general sec- method of determining just who is that person worthy of retary of this month's Synod for Africa, will succeed Cardi- the protections guaranteed by the Constitution. Certainly nal Renato Martino (photo below), 77, as the head of the that “person” is every human being whose birth process Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace, it was an- has been completed. There is nothing, however, in the nounced today. birth process that changes anything of the nature of the one who is brought to birth. Thus the person who is fully This will make Turkson the highest-ranking African cardinal in delivered is the same “person” he or she was three or five the Church, and give him important experience in a curial posi- minutes earlier. That which is essential to personhood, tion, at the heart of the Church. having the nature of a human being, is not changed by birth. What changes is what philosophers identify as the (Here is a good article from Ghana Business News on the ap- “accidents.” For instance, a doll possesses the “nature” of pointment and its significance: a doll. A doll is, for the sake of this discussion, a miniature http://ghanabusinessnews.com/2009/10/24/ghana’s-cardinal- human creation resembling a human being. You may put turkson-gets-closer-to-becoming-first-black-pope) that doll in a box where no one sees it and it is still, by its own nature, a doll. That doll may be loved or completely The Moynihan Report, “Letter from Rome #42”, by Robert neglected and it is still a doll. You may dress it in red, yel- Moynihan, Editor, Inside the Vatican (subscribe at low, orange or blue and it is still a doll. You may even http://www.themoynihanreport.com/) paint it a variety of colors and even disfigure it but it still

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Truth Be Told 7 Page 7 Nov-Dec 2009 Confused About Life (Continued from previous page) remains a doll unless it is nearly destroyed. If you do not or its functional equivalent, irrespective of sex, health, believe this try to take a beloved “doll,” which has long function or disability, defect, stage of biological develop- since lost its clear appearance as a doll, from its child ment, or condition of dependency, at which time every owner. The doll’s location, relationship with persons, human being shall have all the legal and constitutional dress color or type, skin color, size and even general attributes and privileges of personhood.” This is not a physical condition are all accidents, not essentials. None statement of religious belief but rather the logically consis- of these things change the “nature” of the doll. We know tent application of sound philosophical and biological rea- this now, though it was not always known or believed, in soning. relation to the color of a person’s skin. That color or the national origin of a human being does not alter that which Some new human entity is created when the human is essential to being a human being. sperm and human ovum unite. That new entity begins a whole new form of living from the moment of fertilization. Unfortunately, by a kind of legal sleight of hand the Su- That new entity does not evolve into something else over preme Court has managed to overlook what is essential the period he or she develops. He or she does not evolve about a human being, his or her human nature, and make from plant matter to animal matter or to a human being a distinction of personhood based on accidents of loca- after passing through the birth canal. He or she under- tion, relationship, size, appearance, and degree of de- goes no essential changes from what he or she pos- pendence. None of these things changes the nature of a sesses at the beginning. That which is granted to the human being and so none of these things should be used baby who has been fully born is based legally on a num- as ploys to grant or deny basic human rights. Yet, this is ber of accidents when it ought to be based on that which precisely what the Supreme Court has done. is essential. The congressman’s bill seeks to correct this erroneous distinction by focusing precisely on that one thing which is The Sanctity of Human Life Act does not seek to intro- duce some inane legal fiction, but rather seeks to overturn essential. The only pertinent question should be: Is this a a faulty legal fiction. The fiction, in which we are presently metabolizing biological entity of human origin with the ge- living, inanely pretends that human beings are not really netic makeup of a human being? The bill incorporates this human beings unless the Supreme Court passes judg- essential definition into law: “The life of each human being ment on them and declares them to be so. African slaves begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equiva- were always human beings and the Supreme Court deci- lent . . . at which time every human being shall have the sions said or did nothing to change that. It simply recog- legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of per- nized the truth. The Sanctity of Human Life Act seeks le- sonhood.” gal recognition of the same truth.

In making his case to his fellow congressmen, the bill’s +Bishop Robert F. Vasa is Bishop of Baker, Oregon. His author said: “We have a moral and constitutional obliga- weekly columns appear in online version of “The Catholic tion to protect and defend every precious soul that comes Sentinel,” the newspaper of the archdiocese of Portland. into existence.” The use of the word “soul” in this context refers more to human being than a specific spiritual reality we in the Catholic Church would identify as one’s “immortal soul.” It would not be proper to try to put into civil law this spiritual understanding of the nature of man. Identifying the nature of a human being, however, is not an attempt to impose anyone’s religious belief on some- 2. They are not few who, in the shadow of a nonexistent one else. It is rather the acceptance of a biological and Council, in terms of both letter and spirit, have sown agi- scientific fact. That which is essential to the definition of a tation and disquiet in the hearts of many of the faithful. human being is already present from the moment the hu- man ovum is fertilized by human sperm. Everything else 13. From the denial of one aspect of the profession of is accident. faith, one passes to the total loss of the faith itself, in that by selecting some aspects and refuting others one does In keeping with this proper understanding of that which is not respect the testimony of God, but rather human rea- essential to the human being, the Sanctity of Human Life soning. When one alters the profession of faith, the en- Act declares that: “the right to life guaranteed by the Con- tire Christian life is compromised by this. stitution is vested in each human being, and is the para- mount and most fundamental right of a person; and the From the pastoral instruction “Theology and secu- life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, larization in Spain,” March 30, 2006

Truth Be Told 7 Page 8 Nov-Dec 2009 Urgent Memorandum Peace

There are three types of peace.

The first is the peace between God and man. God holds out the offer from the cross and awaits our acceptance. In other words, God waits for us to end the war against Him. He triumphed by surrendering to sinners. Why do we wait to surrender to the source of our being and of all Good?

The second peace is that peace where man is a peace with himself. The world covets this peace but does not Date: October 28, 2009 know how to achieve it. This peace is a mirror of the first peace. In the first, peace is achieved when the lower From: Department of Justice, Peace and Human Devel- serves the higher; thus when the lower faculties of the opment, Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, Office of Migra- soul and the flesh serve the higher faculties of the soul tion and Refugee Policy, Office of the Secretary of Com- (memory, understanding, and will), man is at peace with munications himself. The will is moved by the reason. Without grace, To: Pastors, Diocesan Pro-Life Directors, Diocesan Social which comes from the first peace, the higher serves the Development Directors, Diocesan Communications Direc- lower, and man is not a peace, for he is serving his base tors, State Catholic Conference Directors appetites. The lower faculties incline towards vice, the Re: URGENT: Nationwide USCCB Bulletin Insert on higher towards virtue. With grace, the lower serves the Health Care Reform higher, and man is at peace with himself.

For many years, the U.S. bishops have supported decent The third peace is between neighbors. This peace is not health care for all based on our teaching that health care possible between men who are not in possession of the is essential for human life and dignity and on the Church’s first two. At best, men not at peace with themselves or experience in providing health care and assisting those God can be compelled into a facsimile of peace, but true without coverage. Specifically, the bishops have clearly peace occurs only when man is not at war with God and required that longstanding federal protections that restrict himself. abortion funding and mandates and that protect con- science rights must be reflected in health reform legisla- It is the world's contention that the third peace can be had tion. In addition, the bishops have focused on efforts to without the first, or even without reference to the second. insure that coverage is affordable to families and that im- The Lord, as our source and summit, who came to bring migrants have better health care as a result of reform. We the blessing of peace on earth to men of good will, gave seek reform that protects the life, dignity and health care us the only Way, in Truth, and Life. of all. -The Sinners Guide, Ven Louis of Granada The President of the Conference and the Chairmen of the three major USCCB committees engaged in health care reform have written all the bishops and asked that the attached USCCB Nationwide Bulletin Insert on health care reform be printed or hand-stuffed in every parish bul- letin and/or distributed in pews or at church entrances as A Demand of Social Justice soon as possible. Congressional votes may take place as Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver, soon as early November. If your Arch/bishop is not in in an article in Italian newspaper Il Foglio, 06-10-2009 agreement with disseminating the bulletin insert, you will be hearing from your Arch/diocese immediately. Much is made, in some religious circles, of the Also included are suggested Pulpit Announcements and a President’s [Obama] sympathy for Catholic social Prayer Petition. Please encourage parishioners to pray for teaching. But defense of the unborn child is a de- this effort as well. More information can be found at mand of social justice. There is no ‘social justice’ if http://www.usccb.org/healthcare. the youngest and weakest among us can be le- gally killed. Good programs for the poor are vital, Thank you for your urgent actions and prayers on behalf of this nationwide effort! but they can never excuse this fundamental viola- tion of human rights. www.zenit.org Oct 10,2009

Truth Be Told 7 Page 9 Nov-Dec 2009 Little Words Fr. John Speekman Words can be little devils. They sneak around the place always thought this was the task of the Bowling Club, the insinuating themselves into sentences they have no right School Board and the local Shire Council. But, of course, to be in, giving meanings they have no right to give. once we have fallen for the lie that we should be building Naughty words! They spread their deceiving odour like up community in the Church then it goes without saying the nectar of a flesh-eating plant and gradually the words that we should be building inclusive communities. properly appointed to guard clarity and truth slide into oblivion. Finally, since a community relies on the qualities and achievements of its members to make it strong, it tends, In the Church these little monsters have infiltrated with when it celebrates, to celebrate itself. I have attended remarkably destructive vigor. The otherwise harmless Masses at which the priest could have been most accu- little word 'our' for example, as in our faith, our parish, our rately described as leading the community in its celebra- Church has, bit by bit, nudged the definite article into the tion of itself. Even the homily at some of these Masses trash can. 'Our' faith is now far more important than 'the' could be said to be an 'anointing' or affirmation of the Faith; and instead of us belonging to this or that parish, or community rather than a call to attentiveness to and wor- to the Church, they now belong to us - our parish, our ship of God. How sad! Church! Christian community follows almost effortlessly from real Another far more dangerous one is the 'all-things-bright- communion but can never substitute for it. Where it does and-beautiful' word community. Like a Crown of Thorns we get lots of bush dances, picnics and bingo nights, but starfish on the Great Barrier Reef it has spread its tenta- very little relief for the soul or the profound loneliness we cles over the word communion leaving behind a meaning- all struggle with. less collection of dead letters. Eternal life, peace, true joy come from communion with What makes it all so insidious is that to the unaware it all Christ in his Church on earth, with the suffering souls in seems so good and true. One now discredited parish pro- Purgatory, and with his angels and saints in heaven. gramme had as its mantra and aim: From Crowd to Com- munity. Yes, of course, community is good, and so much Fr. Speekman writes from Sydney, Australia better than a crowd, so let's get to work, let's build com- munity! And we invest hours of time and loads of money on meetings and structures and 'leadership training' and all the time we should be working, not on building commu- nity, but on understanding and achieving communion.

Communion in the Church does not flow from community, it's the other way round - first communion, then commu- nity. Anything else is doomed to failure; a body without a soul. ON THE RESTORATION OF CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY Confusing words makes other errors possible, errors AETERNI PATRIS which would not have been possible had we used the Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII right words. For example, the tiny word sin still stands with extraordinary tenacity against the giant words psy- 2. Whoso turns his attention to the bitter strifes of these chological dysfunction. And speaking of sin is only really days and seeks a reason for the troubles that vex public meaningful when we speak of communion. Sin, by defini- and private life must come to the conclusion that a fruitful tion, destroys communion, first with God and then with cause of the evils which now afflict, as well as those our brothers and sisters in Christ. Community, on the which threaten, us lies in this: that false conclusions con- other hand, does not challenge sin except in its most de- cerning divine and human things, which originated in the structive manifestations. In fact, community is quite com- schools of philosophy, have now crept into all the orders fortable with sin; just witness the accolades accorded de- of the State, and have been accepted by the common ceased public sinners by the Australian community. consent of the masses. For, since it is in the very nature of man to follow the guide of reason in his actions, if his Then again, community is inclusive; communion is exclu- intellect sins at all his will soon follows; and thus it hap- sive. pens that false opinions, whose seat is in the understand- ing, influence human actions and pervert them. Whereas, I am compelled to admit that I am more than weary of on the other hand, if men be of sound mind and take their hearing the silly call to 'build welcoming and inclusive stand on true and solid principles, there will result a vast communities' made by so many diocesan pastoral plans. I amount of benefits for the public and private good.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 10 Nov-Dec 2009 The Morality of Torture Fr. Brian Mullady O.P.

Question: We are clearly at war with an enemy who re- defendant not to tell the truth to a judge when questioned peatedly says they will and do want to kill us. If we can about a crime (Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 11-11, 69, defend ourselves by killing the enemy can we also torture 1). This was because the accused was presumed guilty. our enemy to protect ourselves? In modern rules of evidence the accused is presumed innocent. When a defendant enters a not-guilty plea, he is Answer: There is a long and complicated history sur- not saying he did not do the crime, he is saying that the rounding the attitude of the Church concerning the moral state must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. nature of torture. Torture can be used in punishment for a Since the burden is on the accuser and not the accused, crime or as a means of obtaining a confession or other coercion by torture would be even more unreasonable as testimony, as is the case in information in war. This ques- the accused is not morally obliged to answer. tion addresses the second problem. In the question of war, the issue becomes a little more Though torture to exact evidence was used by many an- complicated. Martial law affects the object of the act be- cient peoples, it was not used by the Jews. The Greeks cause one is repelling an unjust aggressor. Still, one must exempted freemen from it, but Roman law favored the remember that one of the conditions for a just war is that use of torture. The early Church Fathers were opposed to the means for prosecuting it must be according to human the use of torture but under the influence of Roman law it nature. The normal rules of evidence are suspended was revived and even sanctioned by the Church for civil sometimes in cases of obvious and urgent necessity. authorities investigating heresy, as is seen in Innocent There must be proportionate reason for doing this. If the IV's bull, Ad extirpenda (1252). In this the Pope was danger is great enough and one has an almost certain merely enshrining a practice in civil law stimulated by the knowledge that a terrorist possesses knowledge which great reverence for Roman law which continued until mo- might save millions, some form of chemical inducement dem times. It is not condoned by the Church now. It is might be used. Still, physical torture which would lead to important to see that torture was merely a means of ex- maiming or permanent damage to the body would not tracting evidence based on a legal system which did not seem indicated. The same would be true of psychological trust circumstantial evidence. It is very far from what tor- torture which permanently affected the soul. It seems a ture has become in our time in an experience like Abu moot point whether practices like water boarding fall un- Ghraib, what Naomi Klein called, "a machine designed to der the category of torture as it has always been under- break the will to resist" (quoted in Aquinas on Torture, stood. Loud music and sleepless nights would not, as online post at the Catholic Sensibility blog). these do not involve permanent injury to the body or the psyche. Though the legal use of torture has been tolerated and even recommended by the Church according to the Fr. Brian Mullady O.P., Homiletic and Pastoral Review, norms of jurisprudence, the morality of torture is a differ- Aug-Sep 2009. Father writes the regular “Questions An- ent story. St. recommended death for swered” column in HPR. heretics and even mutilation as a punishment for some crimes, but does not take up the question of torture di- rectly, suggesting that he thought it immoral. Some insight into his thinking on the matter and what should found a judgment of the morality of torture according to the natural law is Aristotle's assessment of it in the Rhetoric, "those under compulsion are likely to give false evidence as true, some being ready to endure everything rather than tell the truth, while others are equally ready to make false St. affirms: “Nothing is colder than a charges against others in the hope of being sooner re- Christian who does not care about the salvation of oth- leased from torture" (1377a). ers.” This coldness comes from a very languid charity. Let us kindle and revive our charity and it will inflame us Clearly then the use of torture as a juridical aid for discov- with zeal for the salvation of souls. Then our apostolate ering the truth is against the order of reason and therefore will no longer be merely a duty which is imposed from must not be employed. In modern times people have without, one which we are obliged to attend to because based their arguments on humanitarian grounds, as it is of the obligation of our state of life, but it will be an exi- against the dignity of the human person. It must also be gency of love, an interior flame of charity which burns rejected on juridical grounds because it is a very unreli- spontaneously. able way of discovering the truth. Moreover, in medieval law the rules of evidence are very different than they are Divine Intimacy, Fr. of St. Mary Magdalen O.C.D. today. St. Thomas for example held it was immoral for a

Truth Be Told 7 Page 11 Nov-Dec 2009 True and False Tolerance

Tolerance is an ambiguous word greatly valued by the meaning. When subjectivism rules, there are no longer zeitgeist. Who dares to declare himself against tolerance? good reasons for genuine reflection about life. What good There would be nothing left to say, however, if the con- is it, after all, to use one's reason when the choice temporary idea of tolerance was not fundamentally dis- grounded in reason is worth the same as the most irra- torted. Properly understood, tolerance implies respect for tional one? Choices then lose all meaning; they engage people but not agreement with their error or fault. Thus, nothing that counts and are no longer serious. "To be or ideas do not have to be "tolerant" - it is enough if they are not to be," Hamlet's famous question, is of the same order correct. as "White or red wine?" and it calls for the same re- sponse: it does not matter, every one does what he Real tolerance, in other words, is not incompatible with wants, the choice is - in every sense of the term - insignifi- either firm convictions or the desire to persuade others. cant. Absurdity reigns. Tolerance simply rejects force and intimidation toward those who think differently. But today tolerance generally It is necessary to distinguish the freedom to choose from signifies something else - initially it tends to be equated the freedom to determine the value of one's choice. Pure with relativism and then it is identified with new norms in liberty implies both: I am free to decide that my life's human life and thought. Put differently, tolerance now meaning consists in bungee jumping or in doing cart- speaks a double language. The Reduction of Truth to wheels or pumping up my biceps or any other idiosyn- Opinion. cratic pursuit. What is meaningful depends on the individ- ual will. I am the master of which questions count. As The prevalent idea of tolerance is connected to relativism: Charles Taylor has underscored forcefully, under these "each one has his truth"; "each individual is autonomous"; conditions nothing is intrinsically meaningful. Freedom is "the self is the source of meaning." To be tolerant in this deprived of significance. view is to cling to the opinion that everything is a matter of opinion and of equal opinions at that. Each person must In order for the exercise of my freedom to have meaning, take his bearings from his sovereign subjectivity, and no my choices must be related to rules independent of my one has the right to put forth a universal standard. To af- will: I can choose between cowardice and courage, but firm that a particular proposition is true by itself, apart the value of my choice does not depend on me. To state from mere opinion, is considered an attack on tolerance. this more emphatically, freedom of choice has no mean- ing unless I am not the master of meaning. Contemporary What does this reign of universal tolerance, or dogmatic thought, of course, does not share this view; rather, opin- relativism, in fact mean? It has as its effect the undermin- ion rules the value of things. Each person is himself the ing of all authority and vital knowledge, depriving all master of meaning, the master of a meaning that para- meaning from liberty and toleration. It finally destroys lib- doxically means nothing. Pure freedom and universal tol- erty and tolerance themselves. Taken to its logical conclu- erance are not just devoid of meaning - they ultimately sion, the reign of opinion means the end of all intellectual self-destruct. and moral authority, whether it be the great minds whose dialogue forms culture or the institutions - Church, family, If all choices are equal, I am not able rationally to justify school - that traditionally have transmitted rules of con- the choice for liberty, equality, or democracy. All "values" duct. The reign of opinion means the attenuation of every being equal, by what virtue can I attribute a special status form of knowledge. In the kingdom of opinion, there is no to the "value" of liberty or equality? By what standard can place for knowledge that engages one's being. I prefer democracy to another regime? Since opinions are equal, opinions hostile to liberty, equality, and democracy What is opinion? It is something I possess, which de- are worth the same as those that are favorable. More- pends upon my sovereign liberty; it is in no sense consub- over, if opinions are equal, the opinion according to which stantial with what I am. Indeed, profound experience re- opinions are unequal is worth the same as the opinion bels against opinion - would a survivor of a Nazi concen- according to which opinions are equal. We are literally tration camp say, for example, "Here's my opinion on caught in a spinning wheel with no hope of extricating what I lived through"? On the contrary, the witness is en- ourselves. gaged with his experience. As long as being is implicated, what is does not depend on my sovereign liberty. I partici- If all choices are equal, I am free to alienate my freedom. pate, I attest to something that does not depend on me, Pure freedom is defenseless against itself. The free man and, as a result, I am no longer master. The reign of the is free to sell his body or his soul. John Stuart Mill rightly self requires one to remain at the surface, on the outside. observed that a man is not free to renounce his freedom The autonomous man - the "tolerant" man is finally emp- because, if he were, he would be in a position to annihi- tied of substance. The tolerant man is emptied of further late what justified freedom itself. Mill's proposition is substance as the reign of opinion deprives liberty of all meaningful, however, only if one admits that liberty is (Continued on next page)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 12 Nov-Dec 2009 Tolerance (Continued from previous page) something other than an indeterminate freedom. Pure but it is coherent because what it forbids, requires, and freedom can abolish itself freely, in the same way that inspires essentially cohere to change in the same direc- procedural democracy can abolish itself democratically. If tion the rule of human conduct. democracy is reduced to procedures by which the major- ity-will of the people is expressed, a majority vote suffices The operation proceeds in three stages that are logically to abolish democracy as was done in 411 B.C. when the distinct. First, the dominant opinion, basing itself on the Assembly of the people at Athens enacted an end to their equality of opinions, discredits the idea of the good. Then, democracy. basing itself on egalitarian-libertarian dogmas, it redefines which opinions and attitudes are appropriate, which are If all choices are equal, logically I must deny the universal more or less unsuitable, and which, finally, are execrable. character of the rights of man. Since each "culture" is held Finally, basing itself on the prejudices of modern histori- to be irreducible, none can be said to be superior to any cism and upon the appearance of being a "democratic" other. But how can one extol such cultural relativism with- opinion, it gives to the new orthodoxy the seal of incon- out abandoning the universality of rights? Of all the con- testability. tradictions in which dogmatic relativism is ensnared, this one is the most visible in practice. On the one hand, the In the first stage, the recognition of the equality of opin- universalism of rights inspires modern man to act in order ions plays a subversive role. It disqualifies the idea of the for these rights to be respected everywhere; on the other, "good life" as it has been understood by the philosophic cultural relativism imposes passivity in the name of re- and religious tradition of the West. The inherited norms spect for the sovereign particularity of each "culture." and models of civilization henceforth are placed under the Taken to its conclusion, this relativism leads to the claim rubric of opinions, as were the multiplicity of individual that no one can prefer, take care, or protect any culture opinions. Dogmatic relativism and dogmatic scientism join except his own. The cannibal has "the right to be differ- together to maintain that there is no intrinsic good. Conse- ent" by following the norm of his culture. quently it is good to renounce the good. The new virtues have recognizable names - "authenticity," "tolerance," "These are my values," say the brutal, the violent, the sa- "self-expression," "openness." In other words, these are distic. If all "values" are equal, how can I answer them? "values" that (despite the contradiction in terms) present Pure freedom knows no limit. Pure liberty subverts every- themselves as "value free" and at the service of the pure thing, including liberty itself. freedom of oneself and others. It is implicitly understood that relativism stops at the principle that grounds it - the The relativism of choices, values, and opinions thus has equality of opinions is not a matter of opinion but of for its effect a comprehensive leveling: if everything is dogma. worthy, nothing is. This position does not truly inspire re- spect for conscience. The modern man who wishes to be In its second stage, the dominant discourse leaves behind the creator of his own "values" experiences a feeling of its professed relativism in order to present as self-evident power, but he cannot experience any sentiment of re- the opinions and attitudes that define appropriate ways of spect, either for himself or others. Psychology operates in being. This new version of the "good life" has two essen- the same way as logic - pure freedom tends to subvert tial components: selfishness and egalitarian-humanitarian liberty. moralism. On the plane of "private morality," the golden rule is that man is innocent by nature, free from moral The Unequal Equality of Opinions responsibility. Egoism is therefore a good thing. Where is pure freedom, consisting in liberating oneself from every Thus the modern world - what we call late modernity - idea of the good, better revealed than where it is most bases itself on principles that it cannot follow to their con- distant from the traditional notion of the good? "Free your- clusion without destroying itself. What accounts for this self," says the dominant opinion. "Reject all taboos, think contradiction? Doubtless it is a matter of blindness, but is of yourself first of all and cultivate pleasures, especially also one of duplicity. Its logical incoherence has its own physical ones." To live means to cultivate "each for him- logic that relativizes dogmatic relativism. Put another way, self" and to strive ceaselessly for the most desirable late modernity affirms more than it says it does. goods of all: comfort, health, youth, irresponsible sex, en- tertainment, the various symbols of success. Tolerance in On the one hand, modernity wants to be beyond good no way demands that one keep a balance between the and evil; on the other, it redefines good and evil. On the traditional virtues and the modern "virtues." This practical one hand, it proclaims the equality of opinions; on the egoism goes hand in hand with an invasive social moral- other, it defines what opinions are suitable. This way of ism. Invited to yield to one's appetites, one is also re- speaking is contradictory, but it is also coherent. It is con- quired to cultivate the appropriate feelings. The misfor- tradictory because its argument continues to violate logic, tunes of those nearby count little, but those of the world (Continued on next page)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 13 Nov-Dec 2009 Tolerance (Continued from previous page) demand a vigilant eye and a bleeding heart. Here relativ- by default is first and foremost the work of activists of ism gives way completely, to be replaced by moral im- equality: philosophers of absolute freedom, radical social peratives: the denunciation of evil and compassion for scientists, immoderate partisans of rights, radical femi- suffering mankind. In the Christian moral world, evil takes nists, militant multiculturalists. a thousand forms and pierces the heart of each. In the new moral world, evil is clearly circumscribed; it is con- Here, too, opinions are not equal. These activists who centrated, it is incarnate entirely in certain attitudes, par- play upon the keyboard of the new "values" had an im- ticularly those that violate or run counter to the new pact disproportionate with their number. The benevolence "values": racism, sexism, elitism, and all that detracts of the men in the media counts much here, since their from the cult of human rights. The idea of sin is denied ex milieu is especially well disposed toward so-called mod- cathedra. The one who has the right opinion belongs ipso ern ideas. Its logic levels the world, its agents orchestrate facto on the side of the just. the dominant "values." On this point, Tocqueville's famous interpretation of majority tyranny is wrong in that it overes- This accusatory moralism is also a compassionate moral- timates the role of the common man. If, as he says, opin- ism. The chattering classes resonate with emotion before ion is the ruler in democratic societies, this opinion today the world's unhappiness. Compassion belongs to the does not come from the people. It is above all the work of obligatory sentiments - provided that it takes the appropri- an intellectual avant-garde and its mediatized amplifiers. ate form. The love of humanity does not concern itself Thus the dominant opinion advances masked, affecting a with the family circle or the neighborhood. Rather, it con- fictitious moral neutrality. Appealing to our autonomy, we cerns itself with the anonymous victims of "exclusion," are enclosed within a circle of suitable beliefs. The suc- discrimination, and persecution as well as those of natural cess of this maneuver is undeniable: with all the appeal of disasters. Consequently, to flaunt these fine sentiments liberation, it controls the way we see and think. With the costs nothing: love is liberated from the labors of love. It semblance of autonomy, conformity reigns. Young people requires only an emotion, a gesture, not a true engage- especially are caught in the net, and it is very difficult for ment. them to think that one can have a free mind and think dif- ferently. They believe they are autonomous while in fact In its third stage, the dominant opinion employs two other they are profoundly conditioned. Young people are condi- arguments - one historicist, the other "democratic" - to tioned to a way of seeing and thinking that flattens and enjoin us to rally to its cause. It demands that we submit lowers life. For the Greeks, life was a tragedy; for Chris- to the authority of the present because it is the present, to tians, life is a drama; for moderns deceived by ideology submit to the reigning view because it is the general view. life was a melodrama, where the happy ending was guar- That more fundamental issues might be at stake is simply anteed. For late moderns, life is but a soap opera with denied, and discussion is held to be superfluous. These miserable stakes. The way of life to which the dominant are orders to submit to authorities other than reason, to opinion invites us is the one Tocqueville feared when he abdicate all genuine freedom of thought. saw on the horizon "an innumerable crowd of equal and similar men who focus endlessly on themselves in order The dominant opinion congratulates itself on being mod- to procure the small, vulgar pleasures with which they fill ern and takes pride in expressing the general opinion. In their souls." Late modernity does not address itself to free large measure the dominant discourse presents itself as men. Its motto can be formulated as follows: "Be a mas- the spokesman of common opinion bringing to bear on ter, to be sure, but a domesticated one." everyone the weight of the supposed majority. The media present the new norms of conduct as normal, banal, self- Translated by Daniel J. Mahoney and Paul Seaton. evident, and present themselves as the representatives of pubic opinion, with polls ready at hand. Through the air- Philippe Beneton is a professor of political science on the waves it is the entire society that seems to speak. Faculty of Law at the University of Rennes, France. This article was drawn from his forthcoming book to be entitled This norm, presented as banal or common, and thus le- "Equality by Default" and appeared in Crisis Magazine, gitimate or suitable, is itself largely fabricated by those April 1996. who shape the dominant opinion. In other words, the dominant opinion is not identical with the common opinion it claims to express, but rather tends to shape the latter from the outside. It is not ordinary men who have forged Come Holy Spirit, speak to my heart; or at least, if You the new tablets of good and evil and who orchestrate it by wish to remain silent, may Your very silence speak to means of the media and in the schools. Who could deny me, because without You I am always in danger of fol- the central role of political and intellectual elites in the lowing my own errors and confusing them with Your moral revolution of the 1960s? The progress of equality teachings. (St. Bernard)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 14 Nov-Dec 2009 Additional Resources

The Fundamental Constitution (Link)

The Rule of the Lay Chapters of St. Dominic (Link)

The Particular Directory of the Dominican Province of the Holy Name of Jesus (Link)

Historical Documents of the Order of Preachers: Treatise on Preaching, Humbert of Romans (Link) The Libellus of Jordan of Saxony (Link)

The Lives of the Brethren, Bede Jarrett (Link)

Aeterni Patris, Encyclical of Leo XII On the Restoration of Christian Philosophy (Link)

Fausto Appetente Die, Encyclical of Pope Benedict XV on St. Dominic (Link)

The Rosary Confraternity, (Link)

The Birth of the First Apostle Peace to Men

On Dec 25 we will celebrate the birth of Jesus for the sal- The angels promised peace “to men of good will.” Our will vation of mankind. Christ, Savior, Prince of Peace, Em- is “good” when it is upright, docile, and resolute. It is up- manuel, Son of Man; these are all common titles by which right when it is sincerely and entirely oriented toward we know Him. Perhaps one of the more common terms good; docile, when it is always ready to follow every indi- He used for himself is the most overlooked. We do well to cation of God’s will; resolute, when it is prompt to adhere remember that Jesus is the first Apostle. Perhaps this title to the will of God, even though difficulties and obstacles does not readily come to mind because we regularly read arise, and sacrifices are required. The Lord is continually the translation instead. His own constant witness is that urging us to generosity and abnegation in all the circum- He was “sent”1. stances of life, even the smallest ones. We must give our- selves to God without hesitation, certain that if God asks As it is evident that Jesus was sent, so it also is evident anything of us He will also give us the strength to carry that Jesus gathered others around Him and “sent” them 2 out His wishes. Such was the conduct of the shepherds; as He was sent, by and with His authority . as soon as they heard the message of the angel, they left It is also evident that those He sent chose and sent their all, their flocks and their rest, and “came with haste [to successors, as He authorized them to do3. Bethlehem] where they found … the Infant lying in the manger” (Lk 2:16). They were the first to find Jesus and to Because Jesus promised to be with us forever, this will taste His peace. always be4. O Immaculate Virgin, I am so reluctant, indolent, and mis- (1) Jn 4:34 5:24, 5:30, 5:37, 5:36, 6:38, 6:39, 6:40, 6:58, 7:16, 7:28, erly in giving myself to God, so immersed in the things of 7:33, 8:16, 8:18, 8:26, 8:29, 8:42, 9:4, 11:42, 12:44, 12:45, 12:49, 13:20, 14:24, 15:21, 16:5, 17:18, 17:21, 20:21, Lk 9:48, 10:16, Mk 9:36, Mt earth! Teach me how pure my heart ought to be, so that it 10:40 will never refuse anything to the Lord, and will always be (2) Jn 13:20-21, 17:18-21, 20:21, Lk 10:3, 10:16, Mk 9:36, Mt 10:16, able to repeat with you my sweet, prompt “fiat”. 10:40, 28:18-20 (3) Acts 1:25-26, Titus 2:15 (4) Mt. 28:20 Divine Intimacy, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen O.C.D.

Therefore is my people led away captive, because they We've had enough of exhortations to be silent! Cry out have not knowledge … therefore hath hell enlarged her with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is mouth without any bounds. rotten because of silence. Is 5:13-14 St. Catherine of Siena

Truth Be Told 7 Page 15 Nov-Dec 2009 Confirmation of the Order of Preachers by Pope Honorius III

CHAPTER IX

Dominic’s third journey to Rome

Whilst the monastery of St. Romain was rapidly progress- ing under the eyes of Dominic, an unforeseen occurrence saddened the heart of the holy . Innocent III died at Perouse on the 10th July, and two days later, Cardinal Conti, of the ancient race of the Sabelli, was, by a hasty election, raised to the pontifical throne under the name of Honorius III. Death had thus deprived the Dominicans of a faithful protector, and exposed them to the uncertainties attendant on a new régime. Innocent III belonged to that family of rare men whom Providence had given as friends and protectors to Dominic; he was of kindred blood with Azévédo, Foulques, and Montfort, that generous constel- lation of which the stars were being quenched one by one. Azévédo was first to depart, leaving his heroic de- signs uncompleted; and now that Dominic had succeeded in furthering their execution under the auspices of Inno- cent III, this great Pontiff disappeared before completing his promised work. This trial was but of short duration. A third time Dominic crossed the Alps, and, in spite of the embarrassments attendant on a new administration, at once obtained the reward due to his protracted la- bors. On December 22, 1216, his Order was solemnly confirmed

…[Although his Order was scarcely established, he al- ready meditated going in person to open to it the gates of the North and of the East. Fettered by European civiliza- the latter with a book, and a voice was heard saying to tion, his heart yearned to those nations on whom the light him, “Go and preach, for thereto have I chosen of Christianity had not yet dawned, among whom he ar- thee.”[5] At the same moment he beheld his disciples, dently desired to end his days and seal his labors by his two by two, spreading throughout the whole world on their own blood. mission of evangelization. From that day the Epistles of St. Paul and the Gospel of St. Matthew were his constant He was encouraged in these ardent desires by a vi- companions, and he was never seen abroad without a sion. One day that he was in St. Peter’s, praying for the staff in his hand. preservation and extension of his Order, St. Peter and St. Paul appeared, the former presenting him with a staff and Life of St. Dominic, Henri Lacordaire O.P.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 16 Nov-Dec 2009 The Duty of the Apostolate In This Light Which Gives Light A History of the College of St. Albert the Great If the apostle is God’s instrument, he is not, however, a by Christopher J. Renz O.P. material one such as a pen in a writer’s hand. He is a liv- ing, personal instrument endowed with intellect and will; therefore, he should put these powers at the service of Originally founded in 1851 as the divine Artist, trying to harmonize, or better, to synchro- the House of Studies for the nize his way of thinking, willing and acting with the divine Western Dominican Prov- way, that is to say, with the divine order and will. Each ince, the College of St. Albert one of us will be an apostle in the measure in which we the Great was civilly incorpo- are docile instruments in God’s hands, ready to be used rated in the State of Cali- as He wishes. forina in 1932 with the hope that it would become "a light- Here again, we ought to fix our eyes on Jesus, whose house of religion and learn- humanity was the instrument which the Word used to re- ing to the regions around," deem the human race. The humanity of Jesus possesses and in so doing open up a no personality of its own; His will, intellect, affections, and conversation between the body are instruments of the Word, which He used with the Church and contemporary most complete freedom and by which He accomplished culture. His work of love for the salvation of men.

In an analogous way the apostle – although he has his In tracing the history of the College, the author sets it own personality which always remains distinct from God, within the eight-hundred year-long educational mission of even in the highest states of mystical union – should give the Order. From the earliest day, Dominicans were dedi- himself up to God as a docile instrument, as a pure ca- cated to combining the education of the with the pacity placed wholly at His disposal. The apostle should education of the laity and the spread of sana doctrina. freely offer to God all he has received from Him – his in- The friars of the Western Province incorporated ideas tellect and will, his natural and supernatural gifts – for Him from the famous Angelicum (Rome) in order to establish a to use as He pleases for the extension of His kingdom. It place where laity would be educated in philosophy (and matters little whether God employs him in great and bril- later theology) and thus be equipped to engage confi- liant works or in humble, hidden ones, whether He uses dently the challenges of their time. him to preach His word publicly or to enlighten souls pri- vately, whether He engages him in intense activity or im- As its growth continued, the College became well situated molates him in prayer and silence, provided his whole life both academically and geographically to respond to the and all his strength be spent in the service of souls. ecumenical movement of the mid-twentieth century. Ideas which served as the seedbed for the Graduate Theologi- Lie the work of personal sanctification, so also the work of cal Union (1962) also provided the means for the College the sanctification of others, that is, the apostolate, can be to be the first Catholic institution to join the GTU in 1964. reduced to a matter of docility, of openness to grace and Shortly thereafter, the College changed its name to the to God’s will; in other words, of death to self and to every- Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, moving thing in one’s thought, will, and actions that might be even classrooms and administration to the GTU campus. slightly contrary to God’s thought, will and action. As Bishop Cummins notes, "St. Albert College has grown Divine Intimacy, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. much from the Benicia days. It has received much from its participation in what was once an experiment in Berkeley. We rejoice in what St. Albert's has contributed to the From St. Thomas' Catena Aurea, “John” signifies “God's Graduate Theological Union. Without the Catholic pres- Grace,” and Bethany signifies “house of obedience.” ence, the consortium would be a respected educational institution but it would hardly be distinguished." This is rather wonderful when we consider John baptizing in the Jordan beyond Bethany, for Grace transcends and perfects obedience, and it is obtained initially through baptism. To order a copy mail a check for your donation of $14.99 plus $5.00 shipping and handling per copy to: Now Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (the active life, the contempla- tive life, and the sinner) were particular best friends of Jesus Attn: Fr. Chris Renz, OP whom he was fond of spending time with. Yes, they lived in Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology Bethany! 2301 Vine Street Berkeley, CA 94708 By this will I know that you love me, He said, if you keep my commandments.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 17 Nov-Dec 2009 Lay Dominican Life, a Senior Perspective

My senior year college retreat laid the foundation for my portantly, how to teach moral and spiritual values to our life as a Lay Dominican. The author of "The Companion students without teaching religion. We learned the basic to the Summa", Fr. Walter Farrell, O.P., was the retreat beliefs of the major religions of the state, what was/was master. He had just finished serving as a Naval chaplain not acceptable to them and then ways to teach values in World War II. As Fr. Farrrell preached to us in a sepa- that all could share. rate senior retreat, he hoped to help prepare us for life beyond the shelter of campus life. I had heard of the Do- The classroom became a proving ground that it could be minican Order but never met one of its members. He ex- done - it was - and we encouraged discussions among plained the beauty, the joys, the trials of religious and our students, guiding them in all the simple to learn, married life. Unusual for that time was his preaching to sometimes difficult to live, moral decisions that everyone young women the similar joys, trials and goodness of life has to make. The younger the learner, the better the in either vocation but pointing out ways we could be a chance of a lifelong commitment to "do the right thing" positive influence of bringing Christ to the world where based on objective truth and a value system. I found this neither religious nor married women could or would be approach to teaching both challenging and highly reward- able to go at that time. It might be a vocation until mar- ing. It has given me lifelong friendships with former stu- riage or religious life was chosen, but he was also very dents and their families. clear that the single life as a committed follower of Christ in the world has its own unique graces and opportuni- Other areas include ongoing service as a teacher leader ties. The rest, as is often said, is history! of my local association, and in the state and national teachers associations. As well as I was able, I stood for A year at Catholic U., meeting members of the Dominican doing what is right and just for students, teachers and the House of Studies there, attending Mass and lectures wellbeing of public education. I worked to make available there whetted my interest in the Order and its mis- early Sunday Mass for the delegates to the state associa- sion. When I moved to California to begin a college tion. They came at 6:30 a.m. before the day's long meet- teaching career, one of my colleagues invited me to at- ings started and it also meant that they would mot be tend a Mass in honor of St. at St. Albert Priory, tempted to miss Mass when they went home at the end of Oakland and, later, invited me to attend a meeting of the a long weekend series of meetings. Happily, I was often Laity chapter there. able to prevail upon a Dominican to be the Mass cele- brant with the caveat to "be reverent and expeditious" Received in 1950, professed in 1951, enriched by lec- because our time frame was short. The tradition contin- tures at the Priory, I began to find out how to fulfill Fr. Far- ues even though I am long retired from attending those rell's vision for living a dedicated life in the world. There sessions. are ways that stand out as I recall past years. I had changed from teaching in a Catholic college to public Another tradition has now survived over 25 years. At the school teaching in a nearby community. We soon started National Education Association Representative Assembly, a group call The Catholic Teachers Fellowship that met held annually in July in varying parts of the country, the monthly during the school year at the Priory with the as- schedule is even more killing. Yet, anywhere from 300 to sistance of one of the friars. We learned more deeply our 500 Catholic delegates arrive for Mass at the end of a own religion, shared Mass and dinner together and, im- long Saturday or Sunday session, knowing they can fulfill

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Truth Be Told 7 Page 18 Nov-Dec 2009 A Senior Perspective (Continued from previous page) their obligation before leaving the meeting hall and know they'll have a free bus ride back to the hotel where they are billeted. Most often, a Dominican celebrates and hears the same caveat as I still make arrangements for his attendance. I also assure that the Protestant dele- gates will have a meeting room and they make their own arrangements for the service.

I think it goes without saying that the basis for all this ac- tivity lies in my membership in the Order and the graces and strength from being active both in my Laity chapter and in my Dominican parish. Service in the chapter has been to hold one or another leadership role over the years and help members change from being just listen- ers/"absorbers" to becoming active preachers of the Word that best suit their talents.

But now that I am older as well as retired and with chal- lenging health concerns, how best to continue to fulfill my vocation as a Lay Dominican? It seems to me that the most important way is to grow more deeply in trust in God's providential plan for me (He's done a wonderful so far bringing me through all sorts of crises!). That said, it means a richer prayer life, more willingness to be open, to listen to others, to give time to help in whatever ways I can. It also means preparing others for Eucharistic minis- try in the parish, participating in our small Christian com- munity movement, using the teachings I've been given to Lifelong Repentance share with others who have not had them. I find myself somewhat amazed at the stalwart faith I observe com- Bishop Tunstall of Durham, 1559 bined with a very limited knowledge of Church teaching or ERASMUS described him as a man of most exquisite even its liturgy. It is an area into which I can step and judgment both in Greek and Latin literature, but at the gently guide both knowledge and discussion. I am quite same time of incredible modesty and of sweet and joyful sure that I receive far more than I give - but that has been manner. B. , who had been educated with true in any endeavor I've ever undertaken - a blessing of him, declared that "the world scarce contained any one of God's grace and mercy. greater learning, prudence, or goodness." Yet he failed where More stood firm, and under Henry VIII took the As I age, there are, of course, the restrictions that health oath of Supremacy, and defended himself to Pole on the and energy impose. My solution continues to be to pay ground that the Pope’s supremacy was not so certain a the necessary attention to have the best quality of life that matter as to die for. Pole replied, "Your friends Fisher and God gives me, not worry about what comes next (as far More were of not so vile a mind as not to know why they as I am able) and enjoy the opportunities He presents died. God send you a livelier spirit in His honor." He through one or another of His other children, my brothers atoned, how ever, for his weakness under Edward VI by and sisters in Christ, so that we all will be with Him, the his opposition to the new Protestantism, and was sent to Father and the Holy Spirit, for eternity. the Tower. Restored to his See of Durham under Mary, and strengthened and pardoned by the blessing of Why worry about when the last ride to the Benicia Ceme- Christ’s vicar, he ardently repaired the havoc caused by tery will be; that is something I can't do anything about schism in his diocese. Summoned by Elizabeth to take anyway. Living as best I can my Lay Dominican vocation the oath, he refused, and on his arrival in London, after a is and will be until that ride. May we all rejoice that Domi- week's journey, was deposed, and died imprisoned under nic has shown all of us the way, shown in very varied Clark at the age of eighty-five, November 18, 1559. ways, how to be preachers of the Word. "To depart from iniquity pleaseth the Lord, and to depart LISTEN, LEARN, PRAY, AND GO FORTH! from injustice is an entreaty for sin." ECCLUS. 35:8

Ellen Logue OPL is a member of the St. Albert the Great Mementoes of The English Martyrs and Confessors, Chapter. Henry Sebastian Bowden of The Oratory, 1910

Truth Be Told 7 Page 19 Nov-Dec 2009 Blessed Margaret of Castello, Part IV: The Outcast By Anita More, O.P.L.

In chapter 13, verse 2 of his letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul says: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strang- This is the fourth in a series ers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” of talks about Bl. Margaret Over the years, Margaret stayed with a succession of of Castello, delivered at the poor families who shared their meager resources to shel- meeting of the Idaho Lay ter and feed her for as long as they could. Some of these Dominicans, Bl. Margaret of homes were very unpleasant places, not only for their Castello Chapter, at St. physical squalor, but also because of their spiritual John’s Cathedral in Boise, squalor: quarrelling, irreligion and downright hatred were Idaho on Sunday, March 18, hard for Margaret to bear. But even in the worst of these 2007. homes dwelt that small spark of decency that had led the family to share the little that they had with Margaret. In return, Margaret must have prayed to God to reward their kindness, because every single home that took her in un- derwent a change for the better. Quarrelling ceased; ha- tred and anger dissipated; tepid souls rose toward fer- vency; families found relief even from material destitution. The first chapter of John, verse 11, says of Jesus: “He There was not one home – except one – that Margaret came to his own home, and his own people received him would not leave better off than she found it. not.” Chapter 6, verse 4 of the Gospel of Mark records these words of Jesus’: “A prophet is not without honor, Rumors of the little outcast whom the poorest of the poor except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in of Castello had adopted penetrated the cloister of the his own house.” Little Margaret’s greatest ambition was to Monastery of St. Margaret. Just as we do not know the imitate Christ; now that her parents had abandoned her in precise identity of the noble parents who treated their a strange town, and left her without the means to support daughter so shamefully, the identity of the of St. herself, she was to imitate His forsakenness. Margaret’s Monastery, and their order, have also been consigned to oblivion. St. Margaret’s became a Domini- Just as Christ was forsaken by His own and welcomed by can in later years, but in his biography of Bl. Mar- tax collectors and women of ill repute, Margaret – aban- garet, Fr. Bonniwell is at pains to refute the theory that doned by her noble parents – found a welcome among these were Dominican nuns – for which, as we shall see, the beggars and outcasts of Castello. The professional we have reason to be thankful. beggars may have been calloused by cruel fortune, and hardened by life on the streets; they may not have been When persons of influence approached the anonymous respectable; but they were resourceful: compelled to live nuns of St. Margaret’s about receiving little Margaret into by their wits and to make a little go a long way, they were the order, the Council of the convent met to discuss the not bums. They also must have had some decency in matter. Margaret’s determination to shield her noble par- their hearts, since they were capable of being moved to ents from the disgrace of having abandoned her gave sympathy by Margaret’s plight. They took her under their them a problem, since legitimacy of birth was a require- wing, teaching her the ways of the city, leading her ment for entry into the religious life; so they submitted the through the streets until she learned to navigate them for matter to the local bishop. When the bishop investigated herself; they taught her where to find water for washing the matter, and discovered the powerful family in whose and cleaning, and showed her how to find shelter for the closet Margaret was a skeleton, he sent the nuns hasty night. assurances that Margaret’s birth presented no impedi- ments – suppressing, at the same time, the name of Mar- It is impossible for a blind, lame, hunchbacked dwarf to garet’s family, for fear of Parisio’s marauding armies. And remain anonymous, especially in a time and place when so Margaret, to her great joy, was invited into the convent everyone knows everyone else’s business; but a blind, of St. Margaret’s. lame hunchbacked dwarf who remains cheerful, patient and forgiving in the face of crushing poverty and home- Yet Margaret was unsettled in the midst of her happiness. lessness is soon an object of considerable controversy. Like all the other sisters, she bound herself to uphold the Margaret’s friends admired her for her fortitude in the face Rule of the order; but unlike the other sisters, she actually of adversity, while her detractors watched her every move upheld the Rule. The Rule was coldly and persistently for signs of the mask slipping. But as time passed, and it violated, and every violation had its justification, the ech- became apparent that what the town saw was no mask, oes of which reverberate down to the present day. Just the poor eventually decided it was time to take Margaret as, today, no one hesitates carry on a noisy conversation off the streets and into their own homes.

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Truth Be Told 7 Page 20 Nov-Dec 2009 The Outcast We Do Not Know What is Right (Continued from previous page) to Pray For St. Augustine in a church, or even in an adoration chapel, the nuns of St. Margaret’s vacated the discipline of silence, on the grounds that charity required sociability. Just as, today, You may still want to ask why the Apostle said: We do not too many unqualified people neglect their true vocations know what is right to pray for, because, surely, we can not in favor of the power and authority of vocations that do believe that he or those to whom he wrote did not know not belong to them, the nuns of St. Margaret’s gave up on the Lords Prayer. prayer and sacrifice and abrogated the rule against re- ceiving too many visitors, on the grounds that they could He showed that he himself shared this uncertainty. Did he thereby dispense spiritual advice. Just as today, in too know what it was right to pray for when he was given a many dioceses, only the rich and powerful have the ears thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to bruise him, so that of the local bishops, the nuns at St. Margaret’s accepted he might not be puffed up by the greatness of what was expensive gifts, on the grounds that it would be tactless to revealed to him? Three times he asked the Lord to take it refuse. In an argument all too familiar to modern ears, the away from him, which showed that he did not know what prioress of the convent assured Margaret that the Rule he should ask for in prayer. At last, he heard the Lord's was too old-fashioned, and that times had changed too answer, explaining why the prayer of so great a man was much for it to be strictly adhered to any longer; but Marga- not granted, and why it was not expedient for it to be ret, who was too sharp not to notice that the Church had granted: My grace is sufficient for you, for power shines not seen the need to adapt the Rule to changes in the forth more perfectly in weakness. times, could not buy it. In the kind of affliction, then, which can bring either good And so, Margaret, encouraged by her confessor, contin- or ill, we do not know what it is right to pray for; yet, be- ued to strive to uphold the Rule in every particular – not cause it is difficult, troublesome and against the grain for only for her own sake, but for the sake of her sisters who us, weak as we are, we do what every human would do, had fallen away from its observance. She hoped to per- we pray that it might be taken away from us. We owe, suade them, by her example, to embrace the Rule they however, at least this much in our duty to God: if he does had flouted for so long; but this alleged house of prayer, not take it away, we must not imagine that we are being penance and sacrifice would prove to be the one home forgotten by him but, because of our loving endurance of Margaret could not influence. At first, the other nuns evil, must await greater blessings in its place. In this way, thought her strict adherence to the Rule was cute: the power shines forth more perfectly in weakness. These honeymoon fervor of a novice that would soon dissipate. words are written to prevent us from having too great an But when the honeymoon showed no signs of ending, opinion of ourselves if our prayer is granted, when we are Margaret’s fervor descended, in the nuns’ estimation, impatient in asking for something that it would be better from cute to obnoxious, and from obnoxious to downright not to receive; and to prevent us from being dejected, and hateful. But Margaret never wavered, in spite of her sis- distrustful of God's mercy towards us, if our prayer is not ters’ hostility. Even when the prioress ordered her to con- granted, when we ask for something that would bring us form her behavior to the established custom of abuses at greater affliction, or completely ruin us through the cor- the convent, she could not cease to obey the Rule. rupting influence of prosperity. In these cases we do not know what it is right to ask for in prayer. In the 6th chapter of Luke, verses 22-23, Jesus says: “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they ex- Therefore, if something happens that we did not pray for, clude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, we must have no doubt that all that what God wants is on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and more expedient than what we wanted ourselves. Our leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for great Mediator gave us an example of this. After he said: so their fathers did to the prophets.” Here was a truth that Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken away from Margaret must have known rather than felt, as she found me, he immediately added, Yet not what I will, but what herself out on the street again, listening to the convent you will, Father, so transforming the human will that was doors clang shut behind her. She had been expelled from his through his taking of human nature. As a conse- the order for the iniquitous crime of observing the Rule. quence, and rightly so, through the obedience of one man This was her sorest trial of her faith since her parents left the many are made righteous. her at the Franciscan . From a letter to Proba by Saint Augustine, bishop, taken Anita More, O.P.L., is secretary of the Bl. Margaret of from the Office of the Reading, Thursday in the 29th week Castello Chapter, Boise in Ordinary Time.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 21 Nov-Dec 2009 Recollections of an Adoration Visit

It is my lunch break. I rush to visit a local parish which on the way to come before the Lord as a little child. offers daily adoration. My pace slows in the quiet of the foyer of the Adoration Chapel (formerly, the convent I want to remember this moment; the ethereal light sifting chapel) and I sign in as a visitor. A note on the double through the colored windows, the silent pilgrims at prayer, doors of the chapel reminds me to close the door quietly the pervasive peace, a peace unlike the feeling that upon entering to maintain the sacred silence of adoration. comes from the mere absence of unpleasantness or stress. It is the fullness of peace that magnifies the love The opened door reveals the Eucharistic Jesus in a sim- and joy within one’s soul. It is the sacred presence, the ple, full-sized monstrance gazing into the mix of sched- heart of Jesus, in the Blessed Sacrament, the answer to uled adorers and visitors. It is centered on the altar at the all desire. He is there waiting to pour out His love. end of a triangular main aisle in this small round building. Come, let us adore. A half circle of chairs on either side of the aisle are in three rows, the first row providing each seat with a prie- Gloria Serpa, OPL, Corpus Christi Chapter dieu before it.

Midday sun streams through the four floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows that enhance the curved southern wall of the chapel. The window nearest a simple, golden orb which is the tabernacle, pictures a large golden crown with rays of warm tones streaming to the floor. The next window near a carved statue of our lady, displays her col- ors in a long stemmed white lily in the foreground and a Surrender to Him white star in the left corner on a blue background. Win- Fr Fulton J. Sheen dow three is simply a silver star in a dark sky with rich warm colors at the bottom. If you want to know about God, there is only one way to do it: get down on your knees. You can make His ac- The last window is at the back of the Adoration Chapel quaintance by investigation, but you can win His love only and is dominated above by royal blue tones with warm by loving. Arguments will tell you God exists, for God’s colors below. The focal point is a stylized large brown existence can be confirmed by reason; but only by surren- cross which tilts slightly forward and to the right. A gar- der will you come to know Him intimately. land of red rosebuds wraps along its length. In the last row before this window, a small man of Hispanic descent That is one of the reasons why so many professors in kneels on the bare floor in adoration. Bathed in the win- secular institutions have no religion. They know about dow’s diffused light of golden hues, his head is bowed in God, but they do not know God. And because they do prayer, eyes closed with hands folded touching his chin. not love what they already know, because they do not act The man wears a loose orange t shirt, brown pants and on their belief, even the little they have is taken away. sandals. His simplicity and reverence stirs my mind to They rattle the milk cans of theology but they never drink thoughts of St. Juan Diego. the milk. Atheism is born from the womb of a bad con- science. Disbelief comes from sin, not from reason. On the other side of the aisle in the first seat of the first row sits a middle aged woman with a long dark braid, en- This is not a broadcast about God, it is a plea to love grossed in a prayer pamphlet. On the kneeler in front of God. Worship Him because He is your perfection, more her lays a dark haired child about 3 years old, stretched than knowledge is the perfection of the mind. Love Him because you cannot be happy without love. Love Him on his stomach the length quite apart from all you are, for you have the right to love of the cushion with his little Him in your heart, even though you do not always suc- arms limp on either side, ceed in loving Him in your acts. Think a little less about fast asleep. The back of whether you deserve to be loved by Him; He loves you the child’s hands rests on even though you are not deserving – it is His love alone the floor beneath the that will make you deserving. It is love that confers value. kneeler in a loose em- “Nobody loves me” is the equivalent of being valueless. brace. The stillness of the Hence the more important the person who loves you, the sleeping child in peaceful more precious is your value. You are infinitely precious abandon at the foot of the because you are loved by God. altar, under the exposed heart of Jesus in the mon- “You”, a collection of Sheen’s addresses, p.14 strance is a visual teaching

Truth Be Told 7 Page 22 Nov-Dec 2009 From the Chapters

St. , Tempe Holy Trinity, Phoenix

On Monday, Oct. 5, we held our annual Information Night, Holy Trinity Chapter held elections for secretary, Treas- our vocation outreach at the outset of the formation year. urer, and Council. Three inquirers attended, with two others who expressed interest but were unable to attend. All five were invited to Secretary: Brian White begin formation on Nov. 2. Treasurer: Roni Englett Councilor: Dee Thornton On Saturday, Oct. 10, we held our annual Day of Reflec- tion, including our Reception and Profession ceremonies. Brian White OPL During Midday Prayer that concluded the day of reflec- tion, Laura Burgis was received. At the regular parish Mass at 5 p.m., Joe Buckley, Mark Foltyn, and Laura Mary Mother of the Eucharist, Sacramento Guild made their first profession: Kitty Fritz and Jim Se- rio renewed their promises. The Mary Mother of the Eucharist Chapter-in-Formation was blessed to have some exceptional programming this Monday October 19 will mark the beginning of ongoing fall! formation for the year. This year we will study Meister Eckhart in conjunction with the Gospel of John, with On Saturday, October 24, 2009 our chapter held its recur- Augustine's tractates or other commentaries on John. In ring workshop, ": 101," but this time order to get acquainted with Meister Eckhart, we will use our members enjoyed the guidance and expertise of a "Praying with Meister Eckhart" as the basis of our study. special guest, Br. Gabriel Thomas Mosher OP, a resi- dent of St. Albert's Priory and a graduate student at the Our formation team for this year includes Chris Peterson Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. Following as Formation Director and coordinator of ongoing forma- the workshop, Br. Gabriel gave an excellent presentation tion, Mary Hutchinson and Laura Guild with the Candi- entitled "God's Portion: The Levitical Foundation of the dates, and Karen Woods and Jim Serio with the Inquir- Baptismal Priesthood" to chapter members and additional ers. guests. Br. Gabriel preached within the context of Ves- Karen Woods OPL pers and generously instructed the community in Domini- can liturgical traditions. Sr. Paulina Hurtado OP, Direc-

(Continued on next page)

A Contemplative Pilgrimage to the Lands of Dominic For the Dominican Laity of the WDP In the Spring of 2010

Dominican Father Bernhard Blankenhorn will lead up to 15 Dominican Laity of our province on a two-week pilgrimage to Toulouse, Fanjeaux and Caleruega from April 26 to May 8, 2010. The low-key, retreat-like program includes lodg- ing and meals at Dominican houses at all three sites. The horarium includes daily Mass, Lauds, Vespers and Compline in common, as well as one or two conferences with Fr. Bernhard. The schedule will allow generous time for rest, walks, personal prayer and study and conversations. The main theme will be a historical and spiritual portrait of St. Dominic. The projected price for the land package is $1575-$2150, depending on the number of participants, plus airfare ($1100-1300). Registration is capped at 15 pilgrims, first-come, first-served.

For inquiries, please contact the pilgrimage coordinator, Sr. Jane Comerford, CSJ, at [email protected], or call her at 509-868-1683.

Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP has served as parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle, where he taught regularly in the adult faith formation program. He is currently writing a dissertation on the mystical theology of St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Texts and/or audio files of his previous lectures on St. Dominic and Dominican Spirituality are available at: http://www.blessed-sacrament.org/formation.html.

Truth Be Told 7 Page 23 Nov-Dec 2009 From the Chapters (continued from previous page) tor of Permanent Diaconate Formation for the diocese of Holy Rosary Portland Sacramento, attended and further blessed the evening with her beautiful Dominican heart. The night concluded Holy Rosary Chapter in November will again prepare and with a relaxed evening of Dominican community for all in deliver Thanksgiving baskets to those in need in our com- attendance. The Italian food and wines at Piatti's Restau- munity. Cecelia Hoesly will head up this apostolate rant in Roseville topped off a grace-filled day. The chapter again. Members are encouraged to watch for sales and thanks Br. Gabriel for this wonderful opportunity to grow purchase turkeys, hams and canned goods to contribute. in faith and strengthen our foundations as Lay Domini- Mary Fazio is exploring ways that our chapter can put on cans. We appreciate the generous sacrifice of his time a spaghetti dinner as a fund raiser in 2010. and expertise. Our chapter looks forward to an Advent Day of Recollec- We are having Suffrages both for deceased Dominicans tion that will be led by Fr. Brendan McAnerny OP on and all the deceased who need our prayers combined on Saturday, December 5th. These occasions are always Nov. 7 by attending 8:00 a.m. Mass and offering the ro- both restorative and contemplative, and welcome oppor- sary and Morning Prayer afterward at Holy Rosary tunities to keep central the essence of the liturgical sea- Church for this intention. Since we usually offer suffrages son. separately for these intentions, we are individually asked to participate in an extra Mass and rosary the second Sat- We are also most eager for our annual retreat at the urday of November as well. Mercy Retreat Center in Auburn, CA from January 22-24, 2010. We count among our greatest chapter blessings We are beginning a prayer intention book to keep track of having Fr. Emmerich Vogt OP, Prior Provincial for the prayer requests throughout the month. The book will be Western Dominican Province serve as our retreat master. available at each meeting for members to write in specific intentions or members may call Mary Halvorson during What a wonderful way to begin the new year as Lay Do- the month to add names or intentions. All members are minicans, stoking the embers of our vocation in order to encouraged to pray specifically for the names in the book carry forth the blazing torch of truth, and set hearts throughout the month. aflame! As St. Catherine said: "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!" Sick report: Jane Hoesly, Terri Mersereau, Sue King, Kay Hampton's mother; Cecilia Hoesly's sister, Sue Catherine Liberatore OPL and Jenny Patten Gargiulo Hoesly; Margaret Fuleki's grandchildren. OPL Roberta Powell OPL

St. Andrew, Riverside St. Albert the Great Chapter, Oakland The St. Andrew Chapter held elections on Sept 20, 2009 and elected: St. Albert the Great Chapter elected Gloria Escalona as our new moderator. She has been the Formation Director Moderator: Nancy Sebastian for years and before that edited our chapter newsletter. Assistant Moderator: Rita Bladow Secretary: Polly Dristas At the November meeting, I will speak on "Preaching", Treasurer: John de la Fontaine summarizing the work of the Central Province Lay Domin- Formation Director: Barry McQuillan cians in this area and also noting the many kinds of LPC Rep: Martin Szczesniak preaching each of us can do, noting the ways to preach At large rep: Ofelia Barretto and when NOT to preach. At large rep & LPC Rep alternate: Bill Rabalais At the December meeting, Gloria will review her trip to , especially telling us about the ceremo- Martin Szczesniak sought final profession and his final nies that took place on October 11th and her private tour profession was affirmed by the chapter council; profes- of Santa Sabina. November 5th, members of all the Bay sion will be held in November. Area Chapters are invited to join us for the Advent Day of Reflection to be preached by Fr. Hurley, O.P., Barry McQuillan OPL now assigned to St. Dominic, Benicia.

Ellen Logue OPL Humility is the acknowledgement of truth" - St. Theresa of Avila (Continued on next page)

Truth Be Told 7 Page 24 Nov-Dec 2009 From the Chapters From the Mail (continued from previous page)

Hi, Mark,

I live in Juneau, Alaska, where I am a writer for the Na- tional Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. I'm an ac- tive Catholic, but my only association with the order is a growing interest in the Dominican laity. In the mid-1980s, after a decade of research and reflection, I became a Catholic--after having my first two sons and after becom- ing friends with two Dominican priests from Providence College who wisely guided me into the Church. So the Dominicans have always had a special place in my heart and mind. Now, in my mid-fifties, I'm looking for ways into Bl. Margaret of Castello, Boise a deeper love of Christ and commitment to the Church.

September and October were eventful months for the God bless, chapter of Bl. Margaret of Castello. Jim Hale

In September, the chapter had the pleasure of hosting Fr. Pray for Dominican vocations! - Ed. Brian Mullady, O.P., who was in Boise to be inducted — into the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre at the Cathedral of St. . We were fortunate to be able to Hi Mark, spend some time with Fr. Mullady while he was not occu- pied with other business. Since we and our religious as- I am from Riverside, CA. I am not associated with the sistant, Sr. Alice Marie Schmid, O.P., are almost the Order, but am considering it. I was educated by the Do- only Dominicans in the entire state of Idaho, it is a rare minicans from Amityville, NY and most of my 'Catholic treat for us to be able to fête a Dominican friar! thinking' is pretty much Dominican in nature. There is a lay group that meets at St Andrew's which is 12-14 miles, On October 17th, amid celebration, fellowship and good or 20 minutes in CA drive time. food (including a delicious turkey prepared by Dorothy Brown, O.P.L.) the chapter of Bl. Margaret of Castello Congrats on your 1st anniversary of publication. Looks received a new postulant, and two members (one of like a lot of work! whom traveled all the way from Moscow, Idaho) made Beverly Bromley their second temporary professions. At the end of the regular monthly meeting, the chapter gathered at the — chapel of St. Paul at Boise State University for Vespers and professions (Subprioress Stephanie DeNinno, Dear Friends, O.P.L. presiding). The following members were received or made their professions: The House of Representatives may vote today on a pro- life amendment to the health care bill (the Stupak amend- Myrna Kirkwood was received as a postulant. ment). It could be the most important Congressional vote Judy Lamb, O.P.L. second temporary profession. on abortion since Roe v. Wade. It could block potentially Lydia Brown, O.P.L. second temporary profession. massive federal subsidies for abortion. I have two links We beg God’s blessings on our chapter and especially below, one from the Washington Post, another from our new sister in St. Dominic. We pray that we continue lifenews.com. PLEASE read the info, contact your U.S. to grow, and that we may have more Dominican religious Representative TODAY, and please pass this message and friars here in our diocese on a permanent basis! on.

Anita Moore O.P.L. The links are http://www.lifenews.com/nat5629.html and http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/11/ democrats_to_resolve_abortion.html?hpid=topnews .

Let us pray especially for our Catholic Congressmen.

God bless, Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP

Truth Be Told 7 Page 25 Nov-Dec 2009 So let us remain with Jesus, the eternal and incarnate Wisdom. Apart from him, there is nothing but aimless wandering, untruth and death. "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life" (Jn. 14:6). Now let us see the effects of Wisdom in souls. The Love of Eternal Wisdom, St. Louis de Montfort

Mary, our mother And mother of the Redeemer, Gate of heaven and Star of the sea, Come to the aid of your people, Who have sinned, Jerusalem, from Bethlehem, photo by Steven Ray Yet also yearn to rise again! Come to the Church’s aid, Enlighten your devoted children, Strengthen the faithful throughout the world, Men, called to the honor of working with the Savior in Let those who have drifted transmitting this divine life to souls, ought to consider Hear your call, themselves mere channels whose function it is to draw from this one and only source. And may they who live as prisoners of evil Be converted! Failure, on the part of the apostle to recognize this princi- Pope John Paul II ple, and the illusion that he could produce the slightest trace of supernatural life without borrowing every bit of it from Jesus Christ, would lead us to believe that his igno- rance of theology was equaled only by his stupid self- conceit. If the apostle, while recognizing in theory that Contact Truth Be Told the Redeemer is the primary cause of all divine life, were [email protected] to forget this truth in his actions and, blinded by insane 2711 Lancaster Dr. presumption, were to insult Jesus Christ by relying on his own powers, it would be a lesser disorder than the pre- Boise, ID 83702 ceding, but one just as insufferable in the sight of God.  Please notify by email if you would like to The Soul of the Apostolate, be added to the regular emailing list. Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, OCSO  There is no subscription fee. Truth Be Told is a bimonthly publication. It is released on or around the first day of each bimonthly period, by email and on the website (http://laydominicanswest/ newsletter). Deadline for contributions is one week before the end of the month (but preferably by the 15th of the prior month).

Let us, then, not light the lamp by Editor – Mark Gross contemplation and action, only to put it under a bushel - that lamp, I mean, Submissions to the Editor which is the enlightening word of knowledge - lest we be condemned Readers are encouraged to contribute letters or arti- for restricting by the letter the incom- cles, in particular presentations made at chapter meet- prehensible power of wisdom. Rather ings. We cannot guarantee that all will be published, let us place it upon the lampstand of and we reserve the right to edit submissions. The pur- holy Church, on the heights of true pose of sharing submissions is to pass on relevant in- contemplation, where it may kindle formation and suggestions for proclaiming the Good for all men the light of divine teach- News of the Gospel according to the charism of St. ing. -St. Dominic, and in accord with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

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